The BARC Student Journey Game has been designed in collaboration with our artist in residence Maria D’Amico and Student Consultants, specifically the undergraduate students of colour leading the Re-imagining Attainment For All (RAFA2) HEFCE/OfS project. The game was commissioned in 2019 by RAFA2 teams based at Queen Mary University of London and University of Roehampton. The game has been developed for UK university staff who are committed to or involved in developing interventions that address racial discrimination and inequalities in higher education. It can be played by both academics and members of professional services staff.
The game provides staff with an interactive format to engage with the issues, centering the voices and knowledge of students of colour. Over the course of the game you will consider a number of potential ‘zones of conflict’, each zone has been identified by students of colour and is represented by a token. Players discuss these zones, record their responses to them and develop actions that can be taken up by individuals or institution as interventions that center people of colour in a meaningful way. This knowledge can subsequently provide useful guidance in the development of engagement strategies and policy-making.
Players are advised that the game-play does not represent change in itself and cannot substitute dialogue with students in furthering their inclusion in higher education. The game is instead a primer to holding those conversations with students of colour at your institution and to your own personal journey towards understanding the dynamics of racism.
The game takes players approximately one full day to play because it takes further time and reflection to un-learn inaccurate knowledge and re-learn for anti-racist practice. The game is most fruitful when it is collaborative and involves group discussions, it can also take some time to ensure that these are inclusive and developmental.
For full instructions about how to play the game, along with game components, please download the game-board, legend (with instructions) and game tokens using the links below.
Please click on the three links below to download and print the PDFs needed for the game:
BOARD — LEGEND — GAME TOKENS
The game tokens and legend can be printed onto A4 paper, but we recommend printing the board onto A3.
If you would like the BARC collective to facilitate a day of game-play, then please get in touch with us to discuss further.
Building the Anti-Racist Classroom 